MMA Personalities News - Page 24

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The Hall of Fame worthy career of Urijah Faber appears to be coming to an end.
Faber announced Monday on The MMA Hour that he plans to retire following his Dec. 17 fight against Brad Pickett at UFC on FOX 22 in his hometown of Sacramento, CA, bringing an end to a career that spanned 14 years and helped propel the lighter weight classes to international prominence in mixed martial arts.

Johny Hendricks used to be the best 170-pound fighter in the world.
Fast forward a few years and Hendricks, 33, is now trying to climb his way out of an 0-2 hole after dropping three of his last four and plummeting to No. 7 in the official UFC rankings.
“The last two I have lost, fair and square, I know I have,” Hendricks told ESPN’s Five Rounds podcast. “Realistically, if I go out there — and hey, crazier things have happened — I go out there and lose, that’s when it’s time to say ‘I’m done.’ I’m not gonna keep fighting to hopefully find a person I can beat.”

The clash between former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) continues in full force after "Bones" tested positive for banned substances prior to UFC 200 this past July. Jones has proclaimed he will return to action soon while a generic form of Cialis has been pinpointed as a possible reason why the 29-year-old popped under USADA watch.
It now seems as if Jones is even closer to exonerating himself and returning to a sport he has dominated his entire career. According to Jones' lawyer, Howard Jacobs, the independent tests that USADA administered on the substances Jones took earlier this year have all come back positive, marking the entire crop "contaminated."

Heading into her fourth title defense against Karolina Kowalkiewicz at UFC 205, UFC strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk has been undergoing a good many changes. For starters she has settled on a steady training camp with American Top Team in Florida, after a nomadic stint of stopping into different gyms across the country.
She also recently parted ways with her manager, Tiago Okamura, making her a free agent for business. As for that second thing, Jedrzejczyk said she’s open for discussion with any managers who might thing they can represent her.
"I am waiting for a good offer," the 29-year old Polish champion said. "Bring me some money, and that’s all what I want from my manager. I’m here. I’m in the U.S."

Abdul-Kerim Edilov has yet to make his UFC debut, and he’ll have to wait longer still.
The Chechen light heavyweight has been given a 15-month suspension by USADA for testing positive for the prohibited substance meldonium in an out-of-competition drug test back in January, the UFC’s anti-doping partner announced Friday. His suspension is retroactive to Jan. 7, 2016, the date the sample was collected. Edilov will be eligible for his first UFC fight in April.

There won’t be any "Bigfoot" sightings in the UFC again any time soon.
The promotion released Antonio Silva recently after a rough stretch for the former elite heavyweight, MMA Fighting confirmed with UFC officials Friday.

Brandon Vera will put his heavyweight title on the line for the first time at “ONE Championship: Age of Domination” in December.
The promotion announced the new card today, which will take place Dec. 2 at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, Manila, Philippines. The event will stream as an online pay-per-view in North America. Vera (14-7) will meet unbeaten challenger Hideki Sekine (7-0) in the main event.

A female bantamweight matchup between two former UFC title challengers in Alexis Davis and Sara McMann has been added to "The Ultimate Fighter 24 Finale" on Dec. 3.
The 135-pound bout will take place at The Palms in Las Vegas, officials confirmed.

For the third straight day, the new UFC owners continued to downsize the company.
On Wednesday, it was the UFC's Canadian office in Toronto that experienced massive layoffs, with approximately 80 percent of the department being let go.

Bellator’s debut event in Israel has received a pair of new contests with Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Kirill Medvedovsky and Karla Benitez vs. Lena Ovchynnikova.
Bellator officials today announced the new matchups for Bellator 164, which takes Nov. 10 at Menora Mivtachim Arena in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The main card for Bellator’s November return to San Jose, Calif., has a pair of new fights – and one features a highly anticipated MMA debut.
Keri Anne Taylor-Melendez (0-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA) will step into an MMA cage for the first time as a professional in a women’s flyweight bout against Sheila Padilla (2-0 MMA, 0-0 BMMA). A Bellator official today confirmed the booking to MMAjunkie. An official announcement is expected today, as well.
In addition, Bellator 165 has added a lightweight fight between a pair of unbeaten prospects to the preliminary card. Carrington Banks (5-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) will take on Jake Roberts (7-0 MMA, 1-0 BMMA) to close out the prelims.
Bellator 165 takes place Nov. 19 at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie.

GSP’s lawyers remain solid on their position about the former champ’s contract termination.
The UFC immediately refuted Georges St-Pierre’s claim on Monday about no longer being under contract. Their statement, however, was also disputed by the fighter’s legal team, who recently spoke to ESPN.com’s Brett Okamoto to clarify their issues.

Hendricks (17-5) is in dire need of a win, which sounds surprising considering he was welterweight champion roughly two years back. Since then, “Bigg Rigg” has struggled to make weight and dropped three of his last four.
Time to get something going ... fast.
Magny (18-5) was slowly but surely climbing his way up the 170-pound ladder -- right up until Lorenz Larkin stopped him at UFC 202 back in August. No doubt a win over a tough out like Hendricks will get him right back into the title hunt.

A pair of legends are coming to Hollywood.
Chael Sonnen will make his Bellator debut against Tito Ortiz in the main event of a Jan. 21 card in Los Angeles, promotion president confirmed Tuesday on Twitter. The bout was first reported by Brett Okamoto on ESPN's SportsCenter. The event will take place at The Forum in Inglewood.

One of the most exciting fighters in the featherweight division is ready to make his return.
Chan Sung Jung, a WEC veteran and one-time UFC title challenger affectionately nicknamed "The Korean Zombie," announced Tuesday on Facebook that after more than three years away from mixed martial arts, he is officially gearing up for his reintroduction to the Octagon. He also already has a big-name opponent in mind for his comeback.

A potential welterweight slugfest has been added to the UFC’s year-end card in Las Vegas.
Tim Means (26-7-1 MMA, 8-4 UFC) is set to take on Alex Oliveira (16-3-1 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at UFC 207. A UFC official confirmed the booking to MMAjunkie following an initial report from The Albuquerque (N.M.) Journal.
UFC 207 takes place Dec. 30, a Friday, at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass. In the main event, former champion Ronda Rousey will make her long-awaited return to take on new women’s bantamweight titleholder Amanda Nunes.

Bellator’s December debut in Ireland, a co-promotion, has a pair of new BAMMA bouts set for the lineup.
UFC veteran Niklas Backstrom (10-2) will take on Ireland’s own Brian Moore (9-4) in a featherweight fight, and Ireland’s Kiefer Crosbie (1-0) will meet England’s Conor Riordan (0-0) at welterweight. Both fights will be part of BAMMA 27, which is happening on the same bill as Bellator 169.
Bellator 169, the joint venture with BAMMA 27, takes place Dec. 16 at 3Arena in Dublin. The main card airs on Spike following prelims on MMAjunkie. In the main event, Muhammed Lawal meets Satoshi Ishii in a heavyweight fight.

It doesn't seem like this will be a clean break.
In a statement sent out Monday, the UFC said the former welterweight champion remains under contract and implied there could be a legal battle in the near future.
"Georges St-Pierre remains under an existing agreement with Zuffa, LLC as his MMA promoter," the statement read. "Zuffa intends to honor its agreement with St-Pierre and reserves its rights under the law to have St-Pierre do the same."